


Sentimental

by Dusty



Series: Conversations In The Car [3]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Companionable Snark, F/M, Power Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-08
Updated: 2013-02-08
Packaged: 2017-11-28 14:56:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/675662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusty/pseuds/Dusty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bond has to wonder if Gareth Mallory was right. Is M sentimental about him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She was dreaming when the car hit a bump in the road. Much to James’ annoyance, she jerked awake calling Tanner’s name.

“Tanner’s fine,” said James, as if they’d been chatting. “Anyone who is a distance from you is safe right now.”

It came out a lot harsher than he intended, and he knew she felt it. She didn’t comment, however, and merely looked out of the windows.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“About an hour.”

“Where are we?”

“Deepest, darkest nowhere,” answered James. “Are you all right? Need to stop? Need… anything?”

“I’m fine, thank you, OO7.” She shifted uncomfortably in the seat and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

James cranked the heat up a little. She glanced at him but said nothing.

“Still some way to go,” she murmured.

“Yep,” he said.

She seemed to be nodding off again. Peace filled the car; a companionable silence unfamiliar to James. His mind was wondering when she said something he didn’t quite hear.

“What?” he asked.

She huffed into her blanket. “I said I don’t have a gun.”

James smiled. “Oh. Well I do. And there’s more where we’re going.”

“So there is weaponry at the house?”

“Yes. Mind you, you did sell it, so it might be a Starbucks now.”

“Oh shut up. You were dead.”

“There was no body. You know better than that.”

M scowled at him. “Don’t you lecture me. They said you would have been washed out to sea. Very difficult to find the body. It’s your fault for skulking about on an island, playing around and drinking yourself into a mess rather than calling me. I should have fired you.”

“You had your chance. I know I failed those tests. Had to wonder if the mission was to get Silva or to eradicate me.”

“Don’t be absurd.”

“How am I being absurd? You lied to me. Why?”

“Because even at your worst you’re still my best. That’s why. Now shut up so I can get some more sleep.”

She tried to curl up as much as she could, shifting away from James.

“How did your husband ever live with you?” asked James light-heartedly.

It wasn’t taken light-heartedly. M was suddenly very alert and sat bolt upright to challenge him. “If you ever so much as allude to my husband again I’ll kill you with my bare hands. I’ve told you again and again, this is my job, James. It bears no relation to my personal relationships, and you’ve no right to judge my character based on my professional conduct.”

“And I’m just your agent.”

M sat back in her seat and faced away from him.

“That’s right,” she said, the slightest tremor in her voice. “Just a pawn in a big game headed by the evil queen of numbers. I honestly couldn’t care less about you.”

James eyed her suspiciously. She quietly cleared her throat, refusing to look at him.

“You’ve gone out of your way for me a great deal, for someone who’s only interested in protocol.”

“Only because you’re my big gun. I am fighting a war and I need good weapons.”

James hit the brakes and swerved into a lay-by, causing M to lurch in her seat a second time.

“What the hell are you doing? Bond! Stop driving like a maniac.”

He turned off the engine and turned on her, forcing her to look him in the eye. “For the record, ma’am, I don’t believe a word of what you just said. You’re just aggressively trying to contradict what Mallory said.”

“What are you talking about?” spat M.

“You’re sentimental about me,” stated James simply.

Her nostrils flared, her eyes reflected his.

“OO7, get this car back on the road this instant or I shall slap you so hard you wake up in the Shetland islands.”

James quietly removed the keys from the ignition without taking his eyes off her.

“I need to pee,” was all he said before deftly exiting the car and disappearing into the dark bushes.


	2. Orders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the journey continues, M is out of her comfort zone.

She sat in the dark waiting for him, the car getting colder and colder. Her own white face stared back at her, reflecting her failure. Here she was, on the run, having caused complete bedlam. The hearing was actually going pretty well until that point. Damn Tiago. And all those lives lost.

“They’ll do anything for you, won’t they?” she heard her own voice echo in her head. Her accusation to James, always getting the girls to fall at his feet. And yet wasn’t that her problem? Her eager agents who would do anything for her. And how she let them.

She tried to chase her thoughts away, blinking into the darkness. Bond was taking a long time. The motorway was almost deserted. Every set of headlights made her nervous. He was catching up with her. She shouldn’t have encouraged him. She shouldn't have let him.

Unable to get away from her thoughts, her only recourse was to get away from the car. She flung the door open and got out just as James appeared.

“What are you doing?” he shouted. “Get back in the car, now!”

She shot him a look of pure defiance and then ducked back in, slamming the door.

He joined her immediately. “What were you thinking? Perhaps you’d like to put up a balloon next time?”

“You were ages,” she protested. “I thought something had happened to you.”

“I had to find somewhere secluded. I was being discreet. Unlike you,” he scolded.

M folded her arms, fuming. But she knew she wasn’t angry with him. She had to wonder what she had been thinking. Her confidence began to fall away as she came to the conclusion that she probably wasn’t at her best and should probably keep still and quiet.

She huffed. Perhaps it was the seat, she thought idly. It was transforming her into a bimbo.

“Don’t sulk,’ came the commanding voice again. “It’s my job to keep you safe so you’ll do as you’re told from now on. My car, my rules.”

She glowered at him. “Are you getting off on this? Finally getting to boss me around.”

“Absolutely” said James.

They were back at full speed now; the endless darkness, the blurry floating car lights.

“How much longer?” she asked, trying not to sound like a child.

“Hours yet,” said James. “Do you want the radio on?”

“No thank you,” she replied. “Hours. Just hours...”

She said it to herself, but Bond knew very well what she meant. This very long drive could actually never be long enough.

“Go back to sleep,” he said gently.

With a dignified sigh of resignation, she did.


End file.
